Once it recovers from the pain of losing the Essendon District Football League division 2 grand final, Jacana Football Club will look back on the 2015 season as the start of a new chapter.
The Jaguars, for so long the strugglers of the EDFL, have been the fairytale story of the season, not just in division 2 but for the whole competition.
At the start of the 2013 season the club was broke, 200-point losses were the norm and there were no juniors to help the club move forward.
The determined efforts of a few saw the team survive 2013 and last season saw the start of progress both on and off the field.
And even though Jacana built on that momentum this season, no one expected the Jaguars to make finals, yet alone the grand final
But the dream run came to an end on Saturday at the hands of minor premier Hadfield, which won 16.23 (119) – 8.14 (62).
Not much separated the two teams in the first half, with the Jaguars benefiting from sloppy kicking for goal by the Hawks … at one point they had 2.12.
For much of the first half, the Jaguars defenders were more like goalkeepers as they repelled several scoring attempts on the goal line.
Big man Ferras Merhi kicked two goals and missed another late in the second quarter to give the Hawks a 16-point lead at half-time.
The third quarter was the one which changed the game, the Hawks kicking eight goals to the Jaguars two.
It was a bittersweet result for Jaguars coach Aaron Collins.
“I’m so proud of them,” he said.
“We’re not far off and we’ll go into next season upbeat and it’s only little things we have to work harder at.”
Collins said the third quarter was a mixture of his team’s mistakes and pressure by the Hawks.
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“It was disappointing as it is normally our best quarter but, credit to them, they were really good,” he said.
“We tried and tried but we couldn’t get the right opportunities and didn’t take them when we did.
“The pressure and tackling were down and that’s credit to Haddy.”
Collins, in his first year as senior coach, is already excited about next year.
“Our backline has been superb all year and that’s what we pride ourselves on,” he said.
“We’ll make sure we’re the number one tackling and pressure side next year. We’ll keep working on it and there’s not much we have to change. We’re a proud club now and we can hold our heads up high for once.”
Jaguars secretary Khan Sayers said the club was a winner even before Saturday’s match.
Sayers was one of those determined few who stepped up in early 2013 to help save the club.
“We knew there was still so much work to do for the club not to fall over [after surviving the 2013 season], so we just had to keep moving,” he said.
“We developed a sponsorship strategy which detailed every business in the Broadmeadows community.
“We were still speaking with potential sponsors right up until Christmas Eve and were straight back into it in the new year.”
The club managed to secure sponsors and money was put into junior players.
“Our senior team was always at its strongest when it was made up predominantly of Jacana juniors and that was our focus; getting back players who had left to play at other clubs,” he said.
“We did this by investing our money in the right areas and creating a positive culture.
“The most pleasing thing for us was to see families back at the club and see the boys enjoying their footy after a couple of pretty tough years.”
After surviving the hard years, it’s now about making sure the club isn’t in the same position again.
“Our committee has been working on a club governance manual to ensure best practice can be passed on to our future administrators,” Sayers said.
“It’s important our club continues to improve and there is a real opportunity for someone new to build on the foundations of the last few years. There are endless possibilities.”
